Badischer Jakobsweg

At a Glance

• Start / Finish: Laudenbach an der Bergstraße, on the border with Hesse / Stephansmünster in Breisach am Rhein
• Length: 305.8 km
• Duration: 14 stages, averaging just under 22 km (Camino Ninja division); with a rest day in Heidelberg or Baden-Baden, a good two weeks
• Elevation: ↗ 4,000 m / ↘ 3,906 m
• Highest point: 381 m at km 180.9, just before Waldmatt in the vineyard hills above Bühl; lowest point 106 m on the Rhine plain
• Landscape: the Bergstraße with orchards and vines, the edge of the Kraichgau, the Black Forest foothills along the Murg and Oos, Ortenau vineyards, the Rhine plain, the western edge of the Kaiserstuhl
• Operator / Waymarking: Badische St. Jakobusgesellschaft e.V.; yellow scallop shell on a blue background; in the south, the Kinzigtäler Jakobusfreunde help maintain one section
• Traces of St. James: pilgrim figure in Laudenbach (2015), pilgrim figure at the Murg bridge in Gaggenau (2015), pilgrim stone near Kappelwindeck (1991), parish church of St. Jakobus in Schutterwald, St. James chapel in the Hotel Santa Isabel in Rust (2008)
• Accommodation: no chain of pilgrim hostels; inns, guesthouses, hotels, and youth hostels in Heidelberg and Breisach, among other places
• Connecting routes: Jakobsweg Rothenburg–Speyer crosses at Malsch, Kinzigtäler Jakobsweg between Offenburg and Schutterwald, Breisach – Schauenberg from the finish into Alsace
• Best time: April to June and September to October; pilgrim passport from the Badische St. Jakobusgesellschaft for 5.50 € plus postage (as of October 2026)

Overview

The Badischer Jakobsweg is the long north–south route along the Upper Rhine: it starts in Laudenbach, where a copper-sheet pilgrim figure greets walkers arriving from Hesse, and ends a little over 300 kilometers later at the Stephansmünster in Breisach, high above the Rhine with a view of the Vosges. In between lie three landscapes: the Bergstraße with Heidelberg, the crossing over the edge of the Kraichgau and the Murg Valley to Baden-Baden, and then the vineyard slopes of the Ortenau and the flat Rhine plain all the way to the Kaiserstuhl. The highway runs along the valley floor; the trail runs along the slope above it.

It's young and old at the same time. The Badische St. Jakobusgesellschaft waymarked it in stages; about the southern part, it writes: „So wurde im Jahr 2008 ein Teilstück eines badischen Jakobsweges von Schutterwald nach Breisach neu erkundet und beschildert.“ ("And so in 2008 a section of a Baden Way of St. James from Schutterwald to Breisach was newly scouted and signposted.") Today it manages the northern and central sections as far as Schutterwald with its own flyer and a GPS track updated in 2026. The places along the way, on the other hand, are old: Laudenbach appears in the Lorsch Codex in 795 as „Lutenbach“, the pilgrimage up the Letzenberg has been documented since 1296, and in Rust medieval pilgrims are said to have waded across the Rhine over its sandbanks. Today, right where they did it, there's an amusement park with a St. James chapel—and on this route, that's not a contradiction, it's the whole point.

Other Names

The operator spells it Badischer Jakobusweg and divides it into a northern and central part from Laudenbach to Schutterwald and the Südbadischer Jakobusweg (South Baden Way) from Schutterwald to Breisach. On older signs and with the Kinzigtäler Jakobusfreunde, you'll also see a three-part division into a Nordbadischer, Mittelbadischer and Südbadischer Teil (northern, central and southern section), with Ettlingen and Schutterwald as the seams. It's always the same line with the same yellow shell on blue; the route has no French or English name of its own.

Who It's Ideal For—and Who It's Not So Ideal For

It's ideal if you're looking for a German Camino you can walk in sections: almost every stage town has a train station or an S-Bahn stop, and the Deutschlandticket for 63 € a month gets you back home (as of October 2026). It's ideal if culture along the way matters more to you than solitude—on no other Baden route do the Heiliggeistkirche, the Kurhaus, vineyards and two late-Gothic carved altarpieces sit so close together.

Honestly, though, it's not for you if you're expecting hostel life with dorms and pilgrim menus: you'll be sleeping in inns, guesthouses and hotels, and that costs money. It's not for you if you're after wilderness—the route runs through one of the most densely populated regions of southwestern Germany, with the autobahn and the Rhine Valley railway almost always within earshot. And don't underestimate it: 4,000 meters of climbing sounds like low mountains, but it comes as a constant series of short climbs between vines and forest, especially between Gaggenau and Oberkirch.

Route & Landscape

Laudenbach to Ettlingen (km 0–114.8): The route starts at 108 meters and sticks to the slope of the Bergstraße: via Sulzbach to Weinheim (km 13.4) with its two castles, Windeck and Wachenburg, then on via Lützelsachsen, Hohensachsen and Dossenheim to Heidelberg (km 37.8). Hemsbach lies 0.9 kilometers off the route. Via Leimen, Nußloch and Wiesloch (km 54.7) you reach Malsch (km 61.6) at the foot of the Letzenberg, where the Kraichgau begins. Via Zeutern you climb to the Michaelsberg near Untergrombach (km 89.0), with views across the Rhine plain all the way to the Palatinate, then continue via Weingarten to Durlach (km 105.6) on the eastern edge of Karlsruhe and on to Ettlingen (km 114.8).

Ettlingen to Breisach (km 114.8–305.8): After Ettlingen, things get hilly. Via Oberweier, Sulzbach, Winkel and Michelbach you descend into the Murg Valley to Gaggenau (km 142.9), then climb to 358 meters at Ebersteinburg and drop down to Baden-Baden (km 157.9). Next come the wine villages of Varnhalt, Steinbach and Neuweier—the only places outside Franconia allowed to bottle their wine in the squat Bocksbeutel flask, a privilege granted by the Bishop of Würzburg in the 18th century—then Eisental and the hills above Bühl with the route's highest point, 381 meters at km 180.9. Via Sasbachwalden and Kappelrodeck you come to Oberkirch (km 205.8), and via Durbach and Rammersweier to Offenburg (km 223.0). Then the hills are over: Schutterwald, Schutterzell, Hugsweier—Lahr lies 2.6 kilometers off the route—Kippenheimweiler and Rust (km 262.4), Weisweil and Sasbach am Kaiserstuhl (km 285.7). Via Burkheim, Niederrotweil and the Jägerhof you reach Breisach am Rhein.

Stages, Terrain, and Difficulty

Distances from the Camino Ninja map, calibrated exactly to 305.8 km. We divide the route into 14 stages; the operator doesn't prescribe a binding daily schedule, and you can easily adopt its own stages in the south—Schutterwald–Lahr about 17.8, Lahr–Rust about 16 kilometers.

1. Laudenbach → Weinheim (13.4 km) — a short arrival day on the Bergstraße, with orchards and the first vines.
2. Weinheim → Heidelberg (24.4 km) — along the slope via Lützelsachsen, Hohensachsen and Dossenheim.
3. Heidelberg → Malsch (23.8 km) — via Leimen, Nußloch and Wiesloch to the Letzenberg; this is where the Jakobsweg Rothenburg–Speyer crosses.
4. Malsch → Untergrombach (27.4 km) — a long Kraichgau stage via Zeutern, ending with the climb to the Michaelsberg.
5. Untergrombach → Ettlingen (25.8 km) — Weingarten, Durlach, and along the edge of Karlsruhe to Ettlingen.
6. Ettlingen → Gaggenau (28.1 km) — the longest stage, over the foothills into the Murg Valley; start early.
7. Gaggenau → Baden-Baden (15.0 km) — short, but with the climb to Ebersteinburg; leaves time for the spa town.
8. Baden-Baden → Neusatz (25.5 km) — through the Bocksbeutel villages of Varnhalt, Steinbach and Neuweier, over the high point near Waldmatt to Neusatz near Bühl.
9. Neusatz → Oberkirch (22.4 km) — Sasbachwalden, Kappelrodeck and Waldulm, one vineyard slope after another.
10. Oberkirch → Offenburg (17.2 km) — via Durbach and Rammersweier down into town.
11. Offenburg → Hugsweier (22.7 km) — flat via Schutterwald and Schutterzell; it's 2.6 km to Lahr for the night.
12. Hugsweier → Rust (16.7 km) — via Kippenheimweiler to the Rhine and the St. James chapel.
13. Rust → Sasbach am Kaiserstuhl (23.3 km) — Rhine plain and floodplain forest via Weisweil to the Kaiserstuhl.
14. Sasbach am Kaiserstuhl → Breisach am Rhein (20.1 km) — along the western edge of the Kaiserstuhl via Burkheim and Niederrotweil to the minster.

Technically, nothing is difficult: farm tracks, forest paths and vineyard lanes, plus asphalt in the north and on the plain. Between Ettlingen and Offenburg, the ups and downs of the foothills come one after another, and in summer there's little shade in the vineyards and on the last stages across the plain.

St. James at the Theme Park: Rust Was a Pilgrim Stop Long Before the Roller Coasters

Perhaps Germany's most surprising St. James chapel stands in the Santa Isabel hotel at the Europa-Park, built in the style of a Portuguese monastery. In 2008, Protestant regional bishop Ulrich Fischer and Catholic auxiliary bishop Rainer Klug consecrated it as an ecumenical prayer room: a Spanish altar from Toledo, a statue of St. James, Portuguese azulejos, a fresco of St. Isabel. You don't need a park ticket to visit the chapel. Since 2005, a Catholic and a Protestant chaplain have worked here, and since 2006 the Badische St. Jakobusgesellschaft and the Kirche im Europa-Park (the park's church ministry) have hosted an annual conference, „Die Muschel in Europa“ ("The Shell in Europe"), held for the twentieth time in June 2026.

Why here, of all places? The Kirche im Europa-Park explains it like this: „Rust war ein im Mittelalter von sehr vielen Jakobspilgern aufgesuchter Ort, um den Rhein über die Sandbänke zu durchqueren, viel besser, als in Straßburg oder Breisach einen teuren Platz auf der Fähre zu ergattern.“ ("In the Middle Ages, Rust was visited by a great many pilgrims of St. James, who crossed the Rhine here over the sandbanks—far better than scrambling for an expensive place on the ferry in Strasbourg or Breisach.") The church cites no document for this ford, so take the sentence as tradition. But it does explain why the route doesn't turn straight from Offenburg toward Strasbourg and instead first heads down to the Rhine at Rust.

And then there's the contrast that defines this route: until 1975, Rust was a village on the Rhine; today more than five million people a year visit the park that the Mack family opened on July 12, 1975. You walk past the ticket booths with your backpack—and still find stillness in the chapel. In practical terms: book your night in Rust early, because on weekends and during school vacations the beds in town are taken by park visitors. Schutterwald, one stage farther north, is the quieter St. James town: the parish church of St. Jakobus was built from 1784 to 1787 by Joseph Hirschbühl, on a site where a church has stood since 1361; for the patronal feast at the end of July, pilgrims from both routes come.

Highlights Along the Way

• Laudenbach (km 0) — first mentioned in 795 in the Lorsch Codex as „Lutenbach“; in the town center, the copper-sheet pilgrim figure that Ernst Gassmann installed in 2015.
• Weinheim (km 13.4) — documented since 755, the „Zwei-Burgen-Stadt“ ("Two-Castle Town") with the ruins of Windeck and the Wachenburg, built only from 1907 to 1928.
• Heiliggeistkirche Heidelberg (km 37.8) — the Church of the Holy Spirit, choir begun in 1398, burial place of the Electors; its galleries held the Bibliotheca Palatina until it was carried off to Rome as war booty in 1622.
• Letzenberg near Malsch (km 61.6) — pilgrimage documented since 1296, today a neo-Romanesque chapel; crossing point with the Jakobsweg Rothenburg–Speyer.
• Michaelsberg near Untergrombach (km 89.0) — chapel built from 1742 to 1744 under Prince-Bishop Damian Hugo von Schönborn; the hill gave its name to the Neolithic Michelsberg culture, discovered in 1884.
• Durlach (km 105.6) — lost its palace to the troops of Louis XIV in 1689, whereupon the margrave simply founded Karlsruhe instead in 1715.
• Baden-Baden (km 157.9) — the Roman Aquae, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2021 as one of the "Great Spa Towns of Europe"; Lichtenthal Abbey, founded in 1245, is worth the detour.
• Steinbach (km 167.6) — considered the birthplace of Erwin von Steinbach, who from 1277 built the west façade of Strasbourg Cathedral; monument from 1844.
• Offenburg (km 223.0) — Imperial City since 1240, almost entirely burned down in 1689; in 1847, the "Demands of the People" in Baden were proclaimed at the Salmen inn.
• St. Michael in Niederrotweil (km 296.2) — first mentioned in 1175, with the carved altarpiece of the Coronation of the Virgin created by Master HL around 1525.
• Stephansmünster Breisach (finish) — built from around 1185, with Martin Schongauer's "Last Judgment" from 1488 to 1491, the high altar by Master HL from 1523 to 1526, and the silver shrine of the town's patron saints from 1496.

Breisach: The End of the Road at the Rhine

At the finish, everything that defines the route comes together. According to legend, Archbishop Rainald von Dassel brought the relics of the town's patron saints, Gervasius and Protasius, from conquered Milan to Breisach around 1162; the same Rainald moved the bones of the Three Kings to Cologne in 1164. For the patron saints, the town commissioned the Strasbourg goldsmith Petrus Berlyn in 1496 to make the silver shrine that still stands in the minster today. If you already met Master HL's work in Niederrotweil, you'll see it a second time nine kilometers later—on the high altar.

In the spring of 1945, artillery fire destroyed 85 percent of Breisach; the minster was rebuilt by 1961. On July 9, 1950, 95.6 percent of Breisach's residents voted for a united Europe—fitting for a route that points onward across the bridge from here.

How Pilgrims Find Their Way onto This Path

Most people start in Laudenbach, arriving by train via Weinheim or Heidelberg, or walk in from Hesse, as the operator's flyer describes. Because almost every stage town has a train station, many also start in Heidelberg, Karlsruhe-Durlach, Baden-Baden or Offenburg.

Two routes meet the Badischer Jakobsweg along the way:

• Jakobsweg Rothenburg–Speyer — comes from Franconia through the Kraichgau and crosses at Malschenberg and Malsch at the Letzenberg; if you're coming from the east, you can turn south here.
• Kinzigtäler Jakobsweg — runs from the source of the Kinzig near Loßburg through the Black Forest and shares the trail between Offenburg and Schutterwald; if you're coming from the Kinzig Valley and don't want to go to Strasbourg, follow the yellow shell south from here to Breisach.

Continue the pilgrimage?

Breisach isn't Santiago, and the route doesn't pretend to be. Right at the minster begins Breisach – Schauenberg, a 33.6-kilometer feeder route across the Rhine, through Neuf-Brisach and the Alsatian plain up to the pilgrimage chapel of Notre-Dame du Schauenberg. There you join the Voie d'Alsace and, via that route, the main French Caminos.

If you want to head west already in Offenburg or Schutterwald, switch to the Kinzigtäler Jakobsweg, which leads via Kehl and the Rhine bridge to Strasbourg Cathedral—to the very façade that Erwin of Steinbach designed from 1277 on. On either variant, you only get the Compostela in Santiago, and only if you walk the last 100 kilometers.

Preparation & Practical Information

Pilgrim passport and app. As on all German Caminos, you need a pilgrim passport (credencial) to collect stamps, get pilgrim rates in some places, and later stay in the albergues in Spain and receive your Compostela. It's best to order it online in advance so it reaches you in time for the start of your trip—for example from the Badische St. Jakobusgesellschaft for 5.50 € plus 2 € postage (as of October 2026); every pilgrim needs their own. You can get stamps at parish offices, tourist information centers and many places to stay. The easiest way to plan is right in the Camino Ninja App, where you put together your stages and plan suitable accommodation at the same time.

Accommodation. Don't count on pilgrim hostels. The operator's accommodation list (as of April 2026) mainly names guesthouses and hotels in the south and in Alsace; donation-based places are the exception. Book ahead in Heidelberg, Baden-Baden, Rust and Breisach, and in the wine villages during wine festivals too; in smaller places, a call the day before is often enough.

Season. The Bergstraße blooms early, often as soon as March; May, June and September are the loveliest months. In high summer it gets seriously hot on the Rhine plain and at the Kaiserstuhl, one of the warmest areas in Germany; October is grape-harvest time and peak season for the Straußwirtschaften, the seasonal wine taverns.

What the journey will cost you

Pilgrim passport 5.50 € plus postage, stamps free—it's the nights that add up. As a rough guide: youth hostels around 35 to 50 € with breakfast, simple inns and guesthouses 50 to 80 € for a single room, hotels in Heidelberg, Baden-Baden and Breisach more like 90 to 140 € (as of October 2026). Donation-based accommodation is practically nonexistent.

Budget 80 to 110 € a day for bed, breakfast, a snack and dinner; if you eat at a Straußwirtschaft instead of a hotel restaurant, you'll save. The Deutschlandticket for 63 € a month pays off if you walk in sections or ride back in the evening (as of October 2026). Honestly, this isn't a budget Camino—but in return, you get a room of your own and a glass of Baden wine every evening.

Getting Here

To the start. Laudenbach (Bergstraße) has a stop on the Main-Neckar railway between Frankfurt and Heidelberg, with hourly regional and S-Bahn trains; from Frankfurt you're there in about an hour, and from Heidelberg and Mannheim much faster. Frankfurt Airport is the nearest major airport.

From the finish. From Breisach, the S-Bahn runs every half hour and takes just under half an hour to Freiburg (Breisgau) Hauptbahnhof, where you have ICE connections north and to Basel; EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg is about an hour away.

• Rail: bahn.de — connections to Laudenbach and from Breisach, Deutschlandticket
• Operator: badische-jakobusgesellschaft.de — flyer, GPS track, accommodation list and pilgrim passport